Calls to end school violence

PUPILS engaging in violence at schools must face severe consequences for their actions, to curb this scourge that is getting out of control, says the KZN Parents Association.

The association was responding to the increasing incidents of violence in schools with two more incidents being reported in recent days.

A 16-year-old pupil was allegedly stabbed by another pupil in the thigh at a school in Phoenix on Friday.

And a video which has been circulating on social media shows two female pupils fighting. One of the pupil stomps on the other until she passes out.

The parents body, teacher unions and education experts yesterday said school violence was getting worse and drastic action was needed.

They said pupils have a “don’t care” attitude towards “violence and its consequences” because they are not punished seriously enough for their behaviour.

They also said access to cellphones during school hours was worsening the problem as the incidents are recorded and gave pupils “instant fame” which encouraged the behaviour.

Vee Gani, of the KZN Parents Association, said pupils engaging in violent acts should not be let off lightly.

“These are not small children, they should know that you cannot stab another learner. Such incidents should trigger immediate expulsion because this is beyond rehabilitation,” he said.

He said if a pupil stabs another pupil, the punishment should be the same as if the crime had been committed by an adult.

“We spend too much time thinking about the (needs) of the perpetrator, and not enough about the victim. Many children come to school to learn and they are being deprived of that,” he said.

Gani said the argument that children are the product of the environment they come from was incorrect.

“Many of the children that are bullies come from good, stable homes and many children who come from difficult backgrounds and who are poor, are good students who work hard,” he said.

Professor Labby Ramrathan, Director of the School of Education Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said drastic action needed to be taken.

“The learners need to be made aware of the consequences of such behaviour. They need to know that if they are violent in schools, there will be consequences in their lives,” he said.

He said the state needed to consider an idea of a transitional school where violent pupils were removed from normal schooling for at least a year.

“If learners are violent, they are moved from one school to another, that needs to change. At a transitional school they would continue with their normal subjects but also take subjects on humanity and they could access help from psychologists,” he said.

Thirona Moodley, provincial chief executive of teacher union, National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), said no one was safe in schools. “There are educators who have landed in hospital with broken bones or had their car tyres slashed by learners.”

The IFP said it was high time to act against uncontrollable levels of undisciplined pupils, gangsterism and violence in schools.

Attempts to get comment from the Department of Education yesterday were unsuccessful.